5.1 General context
On this page
On this page
Main concepts
Policies that encourage democratic youth participation as such do not have a long tradition in the Czech Republic, mainly due to the historical experience during the communist regime, which did not allow for free expression of opinion. This is not only reflected in generally low participation in children and youth organisations, but also in political participation of the adult population (see Mansfeldová,Kroupa, 2005). However, there has been a gradual improvement since 1989, when citizens became more aware of their rights and the need to engage in democratic processes.
The traditional governance structures for children and young people in the Czech Republic have always taken the form of pupils' and students' self-governance in schools. Successful approaches within these structures include school performances, leisure time groups, pupil assemblies and elections of their representatives. Over the years, the National Children and Youth Parliament and a network of local and regional parliaments have been set up in the Czech Republic, alongside a system for provision of information and consultation services provision, both for the parliaments and the general public.
On the other hand, the system of children and youth parliaments at the national level was just a voluntary project of one youth organisation called DUHA, which is an apolitical bottom-up youth participation, although it didn´t not allow professional development or full use of the structure's potential. This resulted in the end of this initiative during the Covid-19 pandemics, finally ending completely in 2021. In 2022, young people from the High-school Parliament of Prague started their initiative to build up a successive coordinating body, with support from the Czech Council of Children and Youth. In 2023, a National Forum of Children and Youth Parliaments (Republikové fórum parlamentů dětí a mládeže) was created. The Forum is an open platform that brings together self-governing participatory youth bodies (parliaments/councils/youth councils) and promotes the development of young people and their active involvement in public decision-making through interconnection, strengthening and representation of the interests of youth parliaments at the national level. The project of the Forum is coordinated and organised by the Czech Council of Children and Youth upon the request and with the financial support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
Previously, youth participation was seen by the National Institute for Children and Youth as a way to lead children and youth to develop communication skills and abilities, the ability to receive and process information, lead them to take responsibility for decision-making and awareness of their own rights and duties. These tasks were usually realised by the children and youth parliaments which represent the legitimate interests of children and youth.
Here, we can observe a different approach to that of the National Institute for Children and Youth in the implementation of the Structured Dialogue with youth at the national level since mid-2014. Apart from at the EU level, the Structured dialogue with youth in the Czech Republic gained local, regional, national and international dimensions and became part of the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the Czech Republic's Youth Strategy 2014-2020.
The Structured Dialogue with Youth in the Czech Republic focuses on supporting the activities of young people, self-awareness of their needs and the ability of youth to advocate for their needs in the scope of democratic society within a public governance setting. It should be apolitical, balanced in terms of political ideologies, should reflect the needs of young people, should be inclusive and open, and focus on the delivery of outcomes, while supporting the civic and political education of young people.
The national outcomes of the Structured Dialogue with Youth on Youth Empowerment and Access to Rights in 2014-2015 showed, however, that young people perceive youth participation differently, with more political significance to be given to youth topics and common experiences among young people and decision-makers on public policy level and at schools.
A kind of step in-between was the completion of a youth participatory project “Kecejme do toho” (Have Your Say) which was brought up by young people in 2010 and helped facilitate youth participation during the creation of the National Youth Strategy 2014, bringing youth agenda to contact with political parties on national level. The project also became a best practice example by the Council of Europe World Forum for Democracy and by the EU Youth best practice projects.
The elections to the Chamber of Deputies in 2013 and 2017 showed new youth participatory activities shifting the discourse in order to strengthen the more assertive approach of young people in the Czech Republic toward youth participation with emphases on real empowerment and the power of political decision-making.
Through the years, we can assess that youth participation has gained new dimensions, particularly as new youth subjects and activities emerge and perceptions and priorities of young people change. However, the formal participation of young people is rather low.
Within the Youth Strategy 2014-2020 (see Chapter 1.3) there is no definition of youth participation, although it is one of the strategic goals (no. 8) and its desired outcomes. This should change in the new Youth Strategy 2025-2030, recently drafted, which highlights youth participation as one of its primary goals.
Institutions of representative democracy
The Czech Republic is a unitary state with a parliamentary democracy based on a written Constitution.
The Parliament (Parlament České republiky) has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) has 200 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional vote with a 5% election threshold.
The Senate (Senát) has 81 members, in single-seat constituencies elected by two-round runoff voting for a six-year term, with one-third renewed every even year in the autumn.
The President of the Czech Republic was indirectly elected for five-year terms until 2012; since the 2013 election, the president is has now been directly elected by direct two-round runoff voting, although this change has not influenced the competencies and the Parliamentary Republic order.
There are 14 self-governing regions with representation elected every 4 years.
Similarly, municipal elections take place every four years.
Voting is not compulsory. It is direct, and postal ballot is only possible for citizens staying abroad on a long-term basis, starting from 2025. Until recently, it was only possible to vote abroad for most of the elections (mainly for the Chamber of Deputies) at Czech Embassies.
Turnouts of young people in elections are not known exactly as the data is not collected and analysed within the Czech Statistical Office. They can therefore only be estimated based on various private or few academic surveys.